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Pope Francis will visit Myanmar in November, the Vatican has announced, amid mounting concern at treatment of that country’s Rohingya Muslim minority

Monday’s announcement came as thousands of refugees attempted to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh after a renewed bout of violence between local insurgents and the army in the restive province of Rakhine.

The pontiff on Sunday decried the “sad news about the persecution of the religious minority of our Rohingya brothers,” urging worshippers gathered in St Peter’s Square in Rome to pray that God “saves them.”

The Myanmar government has reported over 100 deaths since Friday, when armed rebels, reportedly from a group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, attacked 30 police outposts with knives, sticks and crude bombs.

Advocates for the Rohingya told Al Jazeera that at least 800, including dozens of women and children, have been killed in the violence. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

The army has reportedly surrounded the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, home to 800,000 people, and imposed a nighttime curfew.

An estimated 3,000 refugees entered Bangladesh over the weekend.

Polices guard near a bridge after an Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attackCredit:
SOE ZEYA TUN/Reuters

The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered in the region since October, when Aung San Suu Kyi’s government sent thousands of troops into villages in Rakhine after nine policemen were killed by a suspected Rohingya armed group.

Over 87,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh since amid claims of arson and abuse by the army.

In February, a UN investigation concluded that there had been grave and widespread abuses by the military that “very likely” amounted to crimes against humanity.

Aung San Suu Kyi has denied her government is involved in ethnic cleansingCredit:
ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP

The treatment of Myanmar’s 1.1 million strong Rohingya minority, who are denied citizenship in the mainly Buddhist country has emerged as one of the biggest challenges for Aung San Suu Kyi since the former political prisoner secured a landslide in the November 2015 elections.

The Nobel peace laureate has been accused by some Western critics of defending the army’s actions and of not speaking out on behalf of the long-persecuted minority.

Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader at human rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said the pope’s visit to Myanmar could be an important step towards “genuine peace, reconciliation and justice.”

“To have a worldwide Christian leader such as Pope Francis speaking out and standing in solidarity with a persecuted Muslim community sends a vital message about the importance of freedom of religion or belief and inter-religious harmony,” he said.